


Voice of Treason, Voice of Reason

by Doodlana



Category: The Dragon Prince (Cartoon)
Genre: Eventual Smut, M/M, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Mind Games, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Runaan is his life coach, Viren learns better
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-12
Updated: 2019-04-12
Packaged: 2020-01-12 09:26:16
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,202
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18443717
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Doodlana/pseuds/Doodlana
Summary: AU in which after Viren “banishes” Runaan, Runaan remains bound to him, like two minds in one body. They now have to learn to coexist, but Viren quickly starts an introspective journey, with Runaan acting like his (slightly judgemental) life coach. Both learn that Viren is capable of doing better things if he tries.





	Voice of Treason, Voice of Reason

**Author's Note:**

> Many liberties were taken and none of this will make sense as the show progresses, I’m sure.
> 
> VERY big thanks to @[noctis](https://archiveofourown.org/users/noctis) for brainstorming this with me, providing ideas, criticisms and for proof/beta reading. :3

Viren’s head hurts. It’s been hurting since he got up, and it hasn’t been getting any better.

Now that the king is gone, he’s taken up the burden of leading and managing the kingdom, just temporarily. Until the young princes return, surely. However, he hadn’t counted on how hard running a kingdom really is, if you know most in theory and with poor practice. Ever since the news of elves coming so far inland spread through the city and surrounding towns, people have been becoming more and more paranoid about their own safety. The neighbouring towns have been asking if the army could send a few guards over, just for safety precautions.

Following logic, Viren calls for a meeting with the army commanders to resolve this issue.

He listens to their strategies, takes into account their advice before telling them what he feels would be best; no guards, but a strong army to defend the people altogether. And yet, someone speaks up how guards would be a safer option and cover more ground. Another about how that would only endanger the army and thin out their troops. A heated argument begins among all of them, and after it hits the ten minute mark, it’s pointless to continue. Viren leaves just around then, and spends the rest of the time he had allotted for the meeting on a stroll around the castle to clear his mind.

“You’re all talk,” he hears in his head, as he’s been hearing it and attempting to ignore it for the past few days. Needless to say, it’s been driving him insane.

After capturing Runaan, the leader of the squad of Elven assassins, and attempting to banish him, something went wrong. The spell had backfired, and instead of the coin bearing Runaan’s incorporeal being, Viren became the vessel. The consequences? Runaan became trapped in Viren’s body, felt and saw everything he did, and could criticise him for it without anyone else hearing it.

“Your plans _will_ fail,” the voice says again as Viren sees the image of the elf’s face right in front of his eyes. Smug expression, nose scrunched and green-blue eyes staring venomously at him. Viren wants to crush his knuckles into that face.

“Would you shut up?” he says, out loud. The act of talking to a voice in his head is… tricky, to say the least. He’s not sure if Runaan can hear him when he attempts to speak to him with thoughts too - either that or he ignores him, which is probably the case.

“It’s fun to see you scramble about to try and patch a kingdom together.” Runaan’s voice echoes in his head and rings in his ears, as if it was his own. His head hurts even more from it. “You don’t seem to have many admirers either.”

“I’ve got more admirers than you!” he snaps as he turns a corner of the corridor, running into two of the castle guards and stopping dead in his tracks. One seems to be holding in laughter and the other snorts, silently, but he does. Viren hurriedly slips past them, trying to erase the moment from his head. If only he could erase that damn elf too.

“You were saying?” Runaan speaks again, but this time, Viren doesn’t indulge him. It’s only best he stays quiet, no matter how witty their back-and-forths are. He has more important business to attend to, and this arguing is only wasting his energy.

From that point on, Viren still doesn’t get any breaks.

He attempts to read a book, but his headache and talking headache don’t let him. Everyone else in the castle is looking at him like he’s gone absolutely mad by the end of the day, even more so than usual. It’s not his fault that he can’t relax! Or… well. It kind of is, but irrelevant! Runaan could at least have the common courtesy to give him some quiet time when he obviously needs it. Alas, he isn’t going to get it. Instead, he has to continue with the meetings that he’s got planned for the day, trying his absolute damndest to ignore Runaan’s distracting comments.

Next on his agenda is a meeting with Claudia and Soren, as much as he isn’t feeling up to it, but they’d come back this evening from the mission he sent them on, and a field report was in order. The unmistakable sound of loud armour and sibling chatter reaches him before the door of his room even opens, and he turns away from the book he’s been mostly staring at instead of reading.

“Be quiet,” he mumbles sternly under his breath in hopes it would keep Runaan quiet for at least a short time, getting up from his desk and turning to the door before inviting them in.

“Heyyy, pops! Long time no see!” Soren chimes as soon as he opens the door. It’s been a while since Viren’s heard his voice, if he’s honest, and it sounds almost foreign. Claudia is right behind him, both smiling as they stand in front of their father. The smiles seem suspicious, sheepish, and Viren has the feeling they’re hiding something.

“News?” he asks coldly, expression unfazed. The two frown for a quick second, but then smile again.

“Well, we… saw a lot of places,” Claudia starts. “Met a lot of people!”

Viren exhales heavily, eyes closing for a second, brows knit together in an expression of disappointment. “The princes.” A painful silence follows as the two frown at their father’s words.

“They got away,” Soren cuts in with a voice that’s masking an obvious fear of consequences. It’s already obvious that they’ve both failed him - now it’s just a matter of how big of a hole they’ve dug, and how to fix it.

“You _let_ them get away.”

“We had a fight with a dragon!” Claudia’s attempt at changing and cheering up the subject makes Viren’s jaw clench. Their faces seem to pale when they notice his building anger, and they both fall silent.

“Which one of you provoked it?” he asks, taking his staff from where it’s propped against his desk and slowly taking strides towards them, continuing his words. “A dragon does not attack for no reason. Which one of you provoked it?” he repeats.

Soren’s eyes twitch away from Viren’s gaze when he comes closer. “I… I did,” the boy mumbles. More silence settles uncomfortably into the room, bringing with it an uneasy tension.

“But I did my best-!”

Viren stops just a step in front of him.

“You’re a disgrace,” he hisses, then glances at Claudia. “And you, you could have stopped him.”

“I did try-!”

“Well you could have tried harder!” he finally snaps, though still keeping his voice relatively silent so nobody outside the room’s walls hears it.

“Both of you had one job, one! Kill the princes and get the egg. And you go on and fight a dragon because you thought you’d seem tough, no, you _both_ are disappointments, and I should-”

“Soren was _paralysed_ , dad!” Claudia then yells into his face, and it’s as if he’s hit a brick wall at full speed. There are sudden tears in her eyes, but she remains angry. He takes a step back, remaining silent as he tries to piece together what had happened to them.

“Soren could have never moved again if it wasn’t for me, he could’ve been, right now, in a bed somewhere, staring at the ceiling and waiting to die!” her tears begin to flow, and her breaths become shallow as she hiccups out her words. “And you wouldn’t care!”

Viren… doesn’t know how to react.

He stands there, looking at both of his children in disbelief and confusion. There’s a feeling in him that tells him he should discipline them nonetheless, but yet another one holds him back from it, and tugs at his heart when he imagines his son being so severely injured, and his daughter going through it all and saving him in the end.

“Wow, you really are a terrible father,” a voice pipes up in his head again. Viren attempts to shake the sudden intrusion, but Runaan persists. “Appreciate them, they’re your _children_ , after all. Be glad they’re safe. Be happy they’ve even returned to you if you treat them like this.”

Again, he closes his eyes for a few brief moments, takes a breath to recollect himself and…

Nothing comes from him.

“Apologise before you lose them. Because you won’t be able to if you keep going like this.”

His face seems to drop suddenly, in shock horror as the realisation of what Runaan said stabs into his head. They’re his _children_. Despite his wishes, his orders, his anger and his authority, they’re still his children.

“I…”

“Apologise,” Runaan suggests.

“I’m… sorry.”

Both Claudia and Soren seem absolutely shocked when those words leave Viren’s mouth. Neither of them know how to react, other than stare at him dumbfoundedly.

“Tell them you’re glad they’re okay.”

“I’m glad that… that you’re both unharmed,” Viren repeats Runaan’s words, trying not to choke on their weight. They’re foreign, more foreign than incantations in Ancient Draconic, but still familiar. Like a nostalgic memory, but one that he feels like he doesn’t deserve with everything that he’s done.

“Tell them you’re proud of them for what they’ve been through.”

Viren’s chest feels tight as he thinks over the words, working up the courage to get them out. It doesn’t feel right - he feels like he doesn’t deserve to say them, yet he can’t pinpoint why. Something in his gut has him terrified of them, but deep down, he knows that Runaan is right.

And he is proud.

“I am proud-” he turns his head away for a second to collect himself after choking up for a moment- “I am proud of you to have made it through this.” He forces himself to look them in the eyes, seeing how confused they are, how unsurely they look at him. Their gazes hurt him, and he knows he’s the reason for the pain.

“You’re doing well,” Runaan tells him. 

“... Thanks, dad,” Soren then says after a long pause, and with a small smile even. Viren doesn’t know what to do, but something that isn’t Runaan tells him that he’s done the right thing for once. Finally, he cracks a smile, a solemn, blink-and-you’ll-miss-it smile.

“Um…” Claudia starts again, confused and shaken by his sudden change of attitude. “Sorry we didn’t catch the princes.”

At this point, he waits for Runaan’s help. It’s strange, getting parental advice from an elf’s voice inside his own head, and as much as he hates him, he’s managed to get a better response from his children with an elf’s words than he has with his own.

“That’s alright. They should get some rest.” Runaan pauses. “You and me are talking about that though.”

“It’s alright. Go get some rest,” Viren says, turning back to his desk.

There’s another pause, but the two begin to slowly shuffle out the door and leave him to what they can only guess are mood swings. Once they’re gone, he slumps back onto his desk chair, staff falling to the floor with a metal clank as he grabs his head and breathes heavy, unsteady breaths.

It takes him what feels like hours to calm down, but in reality only a few minutes pass by the time he looks up again and reaches to pick up his staff. His chest still feels tight, and he wants to bang his head against the wall until he beats the rage out of it.

“You feel like you could use some rest as well,” Runaan tells him once he seems to have calmed down enough to be able to process his own thoughts.

“I’ve still got things to take care of,” Viren mumbles, letting out a deep, defeated sigh. “It’s not exactly a walk in the park.”

“I understand. Then perhaps do whatever you have to do and head to bed afterwards. You’ll only feel worse if you don’t.” It kills him to know that Runaan is so, so right. This lowly elf is giving him better life advice than anyone else ever has, and it’s conflicting with everything he knows.

Alas, he also knows he doesn’t have any better options. Either he listens to Runaan, or the following day will be even worse than this one, and the one after that, and so on. The decision isn’t hard to make.

Viren is just about ready to call it a day.

However, before he can, there is still the issue of guards and the army to resolve. No one has yet come to see him about it, so he is sure that nothing has been done. He seeks out General Amaya, having hope that she will listen to him and know what is best in these hard times.

As he’d expected, he finds her on the training grounds, waiting for her to finish instructing a small group of her troops and turn her attention to him.

“General Amaya,” he begins with a polite and respectful nod. She returns it, naturally. “As per the earlier, er… redundant meeting, I suggest we mobilise the army. Strength is in numbers, is it not?”

Amaya then gestures to one of the men in the squad, urging him closer to interpret for her.

“I understand your point, Lord Viren, but I suggest our troops be placed by the most accessible mountain passes, where our enemies would most definitely pass through, so that we can easily intercept and ambush them.”

He considers this suggestion, finding it a solid plan. Why was a meeting even necessary when he could have just consulted her? It dawns on him that it was a waste of time and a pointless exertion of energy. “I can’t argue with that, General. I trust that you will carry it out.” Truly, one of the few things he does find of value on her really is her impeccable efficiency.

“Of course. Just a question, however, have you found the princes yet?”

Ugh. The one question he didn’t need today.

“Most likely being taken to Xadia by the elf. Rest assured we will find them and bring them home safely,” he tells her with a smile. For a moment, she almost seems uncertain of either the legitimacy of his statement, or Callum’s and Ezren’s safety, but then smiles back and nods confidently.

“We will keep an eye out as well.”

With that, she turns back to her troops to continue instructing and planning, and Viren makes his way to his chamber. It’s been too long of a day, and the only thing he wants now is rest. Rest and relaxation.

While some get ready for the night guard, he takes his time to prepare himself for bed. He folds his clothing neatly and puts it away, before preparing those that he plans on wearing tomorrow. Then, he washes himself as if he’s washing exhaustion and annoyance itself off, slips into his sleeping attire (a light shirt and pants made of linen) and into his soft, inviting bed. It is only single-sized, but being the high mage comes with some privileges of luxury.

The blankets envelop him, soft to the touch and soothing on the nerves, yet he still remains staring at the ceiling for a long while, unable to close his eyes and sleep. He tosses and turns, tries the cold side of the pillow once, twice, but he still can’t fall asleep. Something is not letting him. Something that’s weighing down on him like heavy shackles and similarly uncomfortable. Damn.

It’s already late, he knows. He feels it, and he knows it’ll show in the morning.

Viren mulls over his thoughts, kept wide awake by them. By all of his actions that he now reflects on, the lies, the coldness, the treason. Is he really a monster? Why is this all coming up now? What did he do differently to let himself get so soft-

“Because there’s still good in you,” Runaan answers the questions running through his mind. Does he get to know literally everything he even thinks about?

“When I told you what to tell your children, you realised that you’ve been in the wrong for so long that you started believing in it as the truth,” he explains further. “Now you want to change that. Am I correct?”

Viren doesn’t want to admit it out loud. His thoughts, however, scream with a resounding _“yes”_. It’s hard coming to terms with what he’s done, his past actions that are set in stone. The most uncomfortable part is that Runaan knows exactly how he feels and what he’s thinking about.

“You can still make things better, Viren,” he then says. “I can help you.”

An elf, offering to help a human? This isn’t a time for games. “And what’s in it for you?” For a few seconds, there’s only silence, and Viren curiously awaits the answer.

“Maybe we could improve relations as well.”

It’s… not the answer he expected, to be quite honest. Viren still suspects lies, and the accusation is heard loud and clear in his thought.

“You trust me, I trust you. Both of us benefit,” Runaan tells him. It’s a fair compromise; like putting down the knives they had at each other’s throats and deciding to only glare angrily. They have to start somewhere.

“It’s strange,” Viren starts, shifting to put one arm under his head as he continues to stare at the ceiling. “Listening to an elf.”

“I agree. Speaking to someone you can’t see is a bit of an odd thing, isn’t it?”

The remark pulls a tiny chuckle out of Viren, and out of Runaan as well. Who is he fooling, he is right. He could use some help, from someone that seems to be a little better with regular interactions than himself. Maybe it shouldn’t matter that he’s an elf if the only thing he’s doing is actually helping.

“I’m curious, can you feel what I feel?” Viren asks, hoping he might come to understand Runaan’s position a bit better. It’d definitely help if he at least knew how they were linked.

“It was your spell, you should know what is happening,” Runaan says. “But yes. I do feel everything you feel.”

The _everything_ makes Viren a little more uncomfortable than he’d care to admit. It means that he knows exactly how he feels at his weakest, his proudest and his sweetest, as much as he doesn’t show it.

“You’re constantly tense, Viren,” he interrupts his thoughts.

“It’s because you’re adding the extra tension.” Viren gives a small huff in faux annoyance.

“Please, don’t let me be a burden to your sleep. Tomorrow, we can discuss more things, but for now, you do need to rest.”

Again, Runaan is right. He shifts again, getting settled under the blanket and pulling it up just far enough to tuck it under his chin. _Tomorrow will be a better day_ , he tells himself, closing his eyes and emptying his thoughts, only to hear a few final words from Runaan just before sleep takes him.

“ _Securi dormite_.”

**Author's Note:**

> “Securi dormite” - sleep soundly.


End file.
